Client: National Parks & Wildlife Service

Ancient woodland refers to those woods that have had a continuous history of cover since before the period when planting and afforestation became common practice. To date, no extensive study of ancient woodland has been conducted in the Republic of Ireland. In 2009, BEC Consultants carried out this project with the overall aim of identifying available resources, developing a protocol for the identification of ancient woodland and initialising a National Ancient and Long-established Woodland Inventory. The study emphasises the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the study of ancient woodlands. Historical Ordnance Survey (OS) maps and a contemporary forest inventory were used to create a GIS database of areas continuously covered by woodland since c. 1830. A final list of ancient or potential ancient woodland sites was compiled through the combination of historical national surveys, maps and previous Irish ancient woodland research. A further list of long-established woodland sites represents a resource from which future ancient woodlands may be identified. Field visits were conducted to collate floristic and environmental data and a preliminary list of ancient woodland vascular plant indicators for the Republic of Ireland was compiled.